The annual business expo presented here Wednesday is considered a can’t-miss event for several members of Butler County’s business community, attendees said.

The Fairfield Chamber of Commerce Business Showcase is worth attending each year because it offers businesses a chance to network and grow, according to Matt Pfeffer, sales manager for The Detail Doctor.

“We’re able to offer business to other companies and they send business back to us,” Pfeffer said. “It’s a very good way to commune with other area businesses and keep business as local as we can.”

Held at Receptions Conference Center, the showcase featured 118 booths of area retail, restaurants, banks, schools, health care facilities, governments and service industries.

Christy Nichols, general manager of Symmes Tavern on the Green, said the Wessel Drive business has highlighted itself with a booth every year since it opened in 2003 because the showcase continually boosts exposure.

“We’re kind of off the beaten path, so there’s a lot of people who live a couple of blocks away who don’t realize that we’re there,” Nichols said.

CK Customs, which offers custom T-shirt and specialty product printing, rented a booth at the event for the first time this year “to grow and become more established in the community,” according to co-owner Kendra Snelling.

“It’s been a good response,” Snelling said. “There’s been a lot of people who’ve stopped by and we’ve given a lot of business cards away so I hope to hear from a lot of people.”

This year’s show featured many new businesses, three vehicles under one roof and new contests for various goods and services, all of which gave the show “a new look,” according to Kert Radel, the chamber’s president and CEO.

“That’s a real plus because if it’s the same show every single year, people will kind of become complacent,” Radel said.

Eventgoers dined on samples from Richards Pizza and Brown’s Deli throughout the nearly five-hour event, and then tried out the culinary specialties of other area eateries during A Taste of Fairfield, which was held in the final two hours of the showcase.

First-time attendee Patricia Duncan, of Hamilton, said she heard about the business showcase from a local church.

“I’m enjoying it,” Duncan said. “I learned (about) a lot of places I can visit.”